


little touches

by i_nq



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dorian POV, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 19:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12042330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_nq/pseuds/i_nq
Summary: Alexander likes to touch.





	little touches

Dorian has made a devastating observation. Alexander likes to touch. It’s little flicks of a hand here and there, accompanied by the soft sounds of his laughter. It’s the weight of his head in Dorian’s lap when he wants a quick nap and Dorian can’t find it in himself to protest. It’s a heavy hand on Dorian’s shoulder as a token of silent support, a guarantee that the Inquisitor is on his side. It’s the lack of hesitation when he leans against Dorian’s side after a hard fight, both too exhausted to stay upright.

It’s…strange. Such casual forms of intimacy are foreign to Dorian; he’s more accustomed to fleeting touches that leave far too soon. He wants to read into it, to pretend as though Alex’s touches are only for him, that he savors them in the same way Dorian does, but then Alex’s hands sweep Cole’s hat from his head and push his hair back from his forehead and Dorian remembers his place. He wants to be jealous, but the touch makes Cole laugh. His eyes crinkle at the corners and in those moments, it’s hard to forget that Cole isn’t quite human.

Then Alex is off and slinging and arm over Sera’s shoulders. She shoves him off with a laugh, but then they’re whispering between themselves, no doubt planning their next prank. Dorian can do little but hope that he isn’t the target.

Dorian blinks and Alexander is jogging towards the head of the pack. He gathers up Varric’s hand and swings it between them, eyes alight with left over adrenaline and practically bouncing on his toes. Dorian aches a bit as he watches, because those touches seem just on the other side of “friend”, dipping into something Dorian knows better than to want.

He shakes the thought from his head and finds sudden interest in the way the sand shifts under his feet. It’s foolish to want such things. He knows that and yet…Alex glances back and catches Dorian’s eye. He smiles without hesitation, and Dorian responds in kind before he can catch himself.

Cole twists around to look at him, squinting against the harsh desert sun and Dorian tenses. This is not something he wants out in the open, laid bare to ridicule him.

Cole looks away, head cocking to the side as he watches Alex and Varric. His brow furrows and his gaze flits back to Dorian. He opens his mouth to speak, but Dorian cuts him off.

“Please,” he says, and there’s an edge of desperation in his voice that he hates.

Cole closes his mouth, but he groans, fingers tangling together. “It’s not how you think,” he blurts, as though he’s physically incapable of keeping the words in. “He misses the faces that are like his, the ones that have the same name. They make him feel warm, weighty, real. We’re different. One step away, afraid to get too close, but with you he stands by your side.”

“I thought you couldn’t hear him,” Dorian says, for lack of anything better.

“The mark is less today. Like a tower against the sun.”


End file.
